Khaberni - Doctors have long examined patients' tongues for signs such as color change (a thick white coating, for example, may indicate an infection) or texture (a dry, cracked tongue could be linked to Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune condition).
But scientists have developed artificial intelligence programs that examine the tongue’s color, texture, and shape with impressive accuracy, to detect early signs of diseases such as diabetes and even stomach cancer.
A review of over 20 studies evaluating these programs concluded that they are extremely accurate in detecting disease signs, to the extent that doctors might soon use them in hospitals to help diagnose patients, according to "Daily Mail".
In one of the most significant of these studies, an artificial intelligence program correctly diagnosed 58 out of 60 patients with diabetes and anemia, by simply examining a picture of their tongue.
These programs look for subtle changes in a person’s tongue after being "trained" on what to look for using a database of thousands of images of patients' tongues.
Detecting Stomach Cancer
Another study showed that artificial intelligence can detect stomach cancer through minor changes in the tongue's color and texture, which often accompany stomach diseases, such as increased thickness of the layer formed on the tongue, irregular loss of color, and the appearance of red areas related to inflammatory digestive diseases.
When tested on new patients, the artificial intelligence differentiated those with stomach cancer from healthy volunteers with accuracy similar to standard diagnostic tests, such as gastrointestinal endoscopy (where a tube equipped with a camera is inserted through the mouth into the stomach) or computed tomography, correctly identifying cases with an accuracy ranging from 85 to 90%.
Dr. Dong Xu, an expert in bioinformatics at the University of Missouri, said: "Artificial intelligence learns by identifying statistical patterns in large sets of tongue images, in addition to linking them with clinical or health data of the patient."
Appearance of the Tongue
Examining the tongue reveals visual characteristics that frequently appear in individuals with certain diseases more than healthy individuals, including color distribution, surface texture, moisture, thickness, layering, cracks, and swelling. Experts say the idea of considering the tongue a useful health indicator is not surprising.
Smooth Tongue Surface
Researchers say: "A smooth tongue surface may indicate anemia, as lack of iron or vitamin B12 or vitamin B9 leads to loss of papillae (bumps on the tongue containing taste buds)."
"These nutrients are essential for rapid cell regeneration on the tongue's surface. Without them, the papillae disappear, leaving the tongue smooth and shiny."
At the same time, a dry tongue may be an early symptom of diabetes.
